


Moral Support

by Thette



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beacon Hills Lacrosse Team, Fluff, Good Boyfriend Derek Hale, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, No Sex, Overprotective Parents, POV Outsider, POV Outsider on Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out About Derek/Stiles Relationship, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Stilinski Family Feels, Supportive Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 21:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15445872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thette/pseuds/Thette
Summary: Inspired by a gifset on Tumblr.#derek being a supportive boyfriend is my favourite okay #just #derek going to stiles’ games #even when stiles is on the bench #and stiles grinning when he sees derek #all happy and flushed #and derek smiling back #small and private #and sometimes derek would sit with papa stilinski #and it’d be awkward conversations #but then when stiles actually play #they both cheer #jumping up from the stands and clapping and they’d both be embarrassed any other time #but stiles is laughing and happy and they don’t care #and then after#they all go out for dinner #and papa stilinski asks awkward questions #and stiles groans and buries his head in derek’s shoulder #and derek flushes and mumbles replies #before stiles tangles their fingers beneath the table #thinking he’s being all sneaky #and the sheriff raises an eyebrow #but doesn’t say anything #and all happy feelings #im upset (via winterkiss)





	Moral Support

**Author's Note:**

  * For [calrissian18](https://archiveofourown.org/users/calrissian18/gifts), [LadyDrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyDrace/gifts).



> Since the Sterek fandom has been so lovely to me lately, I managed to dig up a really old thing I wrote in 2015, and for some reason never posted.
> 
> Canon divergence from late S2, no abduction from the game. 
> 
> Warnings: Stiles is seventeen by the time he gets involved with Derek, who's 23. Since the story is told completely from the Sheriff's perspective, there is no sex in the fic (and in my personal opinion, they're not having sex yet). Non-graphic references to canonical child abuse and ableistic abuse (Isaac and Erica, respectively). Non-graphic references to Kate's canonical behavior and to other cases of statutory rape and sexual torture from her police files.
> 
> Betaed by the lovely LadyDrace (though I doubt she remembers it).

At some point during the relentless shitstorm that was Stiles' sophomore year of high school, John noted a few additions to the regulars in the lacrosse audience. Erica Reyes was a surprise, since she'd never shown any interest in any team sports before. Given what John knew about middle and high school politics, pecking orders and the one very painful call to the Sheriff's departments so called IT specialist, a.k.a. that guy who knew how to pivot tables in Excel, he figured she wasn't on a friendly basis with jocks. For good reasons. Two months ago, puberty had hit, spectacularly, turning the shy girl into a blonde bombshell, who wore red lipstick, dressed in all black, and hung out with some other misfits. The Sheriff kept a close watch over them, because there was no way he'd leave the Lahey kid in the wind, not after he had been a murder suspect and turned out to be just another abused kid. 

Erica was currently sashaying up to the girlfriend row, her eyes never leaving Lydia's. They were engaged in some complex female non-verbal territory dispute, and Lydia eventually ceded her ground, letting the blonde take the spot beside her. Though Lydia seemed to inch closer to Allison, who stood on her other side, as if for protection. Or was it some subtle way of scorning her? John hadn't understood teenage girls when he was their age, and he didn't now.

The players jogged onto the field and, with a stubborn look on her face, Erica raised a homemade banner saying "Go Boyd!!!" Vernon Boyd was the third member of the trio of former outcasts turned "cool kids" and potential gang members. John inferred that Erica's display of support meant that she was his official girlfriend now. He turned towards the shadow at the edge of the bleachers, and there, in stark contrast against the billowing mist, he found the silhouette he was expecting. Derek Hale, lurking at high school games as usual. John clapped Melissa on the shoulder and asked her to cheer on Stiles for him.

"Hale," he said calmly, as he cornered the young man against a metal strut. "Didn't take you for a lacrosse enthusiast. Thought you were a basket fan." 

"Sheriff." Hale bowed his head, and refused to elaborate.

"Look, I'm not asking for a lot," John said, exasperatedly. "I just want one legitimate reason why you're hanging out with kids who are at least four years younger than yourself. One reason that makes me think you're not running a drug ring with Lahey, Reyes and Boyd."

Hale looked up, and _something_ flashed in his eyes. "What?"

"Three kids who were even more social pariahs than Scott and Stiles start hanging around you, and all of a sudden they're wearing leather jackets and being popular? Of course I'm thinking about drugs, because the alternative is sex, and I really don't want to go there."

"What." It wasn't a question. "No." He frowned, his eyebrows shadowing his eyes completely.

"Come, take a walk with me." John tried to project his best fatherly vibes as he laid a hand on Hale's shoulder and led him away. He followed with surprisingly little resistance. "Let's talk a bit, let me hear your story. Try to convince me you're here for good reasons, and I'll hold off the investigation."

John knew bits and pieces of Derek Hale's story. He had been there for the fire investigation. He'd eventually understood that Kate Argent had been behind it, and he had strong suspicions that she had seduced the information she needed out of Derek. Kate's records had been both enlightening and terrifying. She'd been investigated for statutory rape three times, and there was one incident with a partner of legal age, that could best be described as electrical torture. All consensual, she had said, and the partner eventually withdrew his accusation. And John knew in his heart that what law enforcement had found out was just the tip of the iceberg. At the time of the fire, Derek had been just a kid, even younger than Stiles was now. It explained a lot of his personality, but it also made John's warning bells go off when he associated with teenagers. He'd been taught to see signs of cycles of abuse, even if it had been more than a decade since the lecture.

John knew about Laura, and how her death had been the start of Beacon Hills as a literal beacon for unexplained murders. He knew a bit of the Hale family's finances, enough to know that if Derek were involved in some unsavory business, it wouldn't be because he lacked money. John had been the one to do a background check on Derek, which had come back squeaky clean. Two traffic violations in New York, but no violent or drug-related crime whatsoever. Home-schooled until middle school, then a basketball star in high school. He was a witness to Paige Krasikeva's brutal death from an animal attack, but he hadn't been a suspect. Shortly after that there was the fire, and then Derek and Laura went off the radar. He had graduated from Columbia last summer with a 3.5 GPA and a major in human rights, of all things. No employment history that they had been able to find, but a substantial investment in real estate and farms across the country.

But John hadn't been prepared for the unrelenting stream of misery he got to hear about. From what Hale told him, he had survived mostly through pure stubbornness, hanging on by his teeth. Words like "hunted" and "running for our lives" featured heavily in the story. The Hale siblings had spent two whole years undercover, and John got the feeling that Derek glossed over some of what he and Laura had done to survive. New York had been a haven, a city big enough to hide in the open. Until Laura had gone back to Beacon Hills. 

"So, you have to understand why I couldn't leave Isaac like that," Derek concluded. John nodded. The Lahey situation had been a clusterfuck, and somehow, Isaac had dodged the foster care system. If it was with Derek's help, he approved. "Erica… Well, she needed help, and I could offer some. Boyd followed her."

"You make it sound like you run a private after school program for underprivileged kids."

Derek smirked, a tiny twitch of the edge of his mouth that was there and gone in a fraction of a second. "Something like that. You can say I'm giving back to the community."

"Good. I'm keeping my eyes on you, but you can come sit with your friends instead. Or with me and Melissa."

***

Derek didn't attend every game, but he was there often enough, and he almost always chose to sit with John and Melissa. The Sheriff had begun to share the homebrewed coffee from his thermos, and they sat in somewhat comfortable silence together, inhaling the aromatic steam.

The first time Stiles was allowed on the field, it took John a minute to catch up. Derek, however, had been cheering for him as soon as he took the field. They stood, shoulder to shoulder on the wobbly wooden benches, and screamed encouragements. After his son (!) had scored the winning goal (!), Stiles looked up at them, with a wild grin on his face, whooping loudly as he was carried away by his teammates. Derek looked down, suddenly shy, and it all clicked for John. Oh, crap. He had gotten used to Derek as not-exactly-a-danger-to-the-public and an occasional lacrosse buddy. He was not prepared for him as a potential son-in-law. But, if there was one thing he had learned over the years, it was that Stiles had his mother's stubbornness. If he had gone from being completely head over heels for a tiny, stylish strawberry blonde to preferring leather jackets and stubble on a significantly larger body, there was nothing John could do to stop him. And it seemed like Derek was reciprocating, at least more than Lydia ever had. John sighed. 

"Hey," he said, with as much of a smile as he could muster, "why don't you join us for our post-game snack? I like those, because I usually get to have a burger without too many complaints." 

For some reason, having Derek around for the post-game celebration was a natural extension of their acquaintanceship. He seemed to know both Stiles and Scott, even if they didn't always get along. Scott had a way of sniping passive-aggressively at him, while Stiles seemed to use more sarcasm, sometimes tinged with affection. John used the opportunity to subtly interrogate Derek, but their conversation was mostly drowned out by Stiles' excitement. He didn't think Stiles and Derek were involved. All signs pointed towards "no" at the moment, but he knew it was only a matter of time. John resolved to make this into a tradition. At least this way he could keep an eye on them, some of the time.

***

Even after his magnificent win, Stiles didn't get much time on the field. Not that it mattered, John was there anyway, and so was Derek. From time to time, Stiles would wave in their direction from the bench, and they both waved back. Derek had a silly smile on his face, the likes of which John had never seen on him before. He guessed that this, whatever it was, was a piece of normality in a weird and tragic life.

***

"So, Derek," John said, munching happily on a curly fry he shamelessly stole from his son, enjoying the crispness and salt, "ever think about joining the force?" 

"I don't know, Sheriff. Would you take me, with my history?"

John smiled. "Well, you might have had a few odd experiences, but I'm guessing it's nothing we couldn't sort out with a long talk or two. You were only a suspect, never a criminal."

"Oh. My. God. Dad! Stop! You're embarrassing!" Stiles twitched and squirmed in his seat, looking like he was twelve instead of seventeen. It had been a long time since everything John did was embarrassing, and he wasn't happy about the recurrence. Stiles was trying his best to avoid looking at John. If it weren't for the fact that John had trained his observation skills for years, he'd have missed the way Stiles stroked the back of his hand against Derek's, and how Derek responded by tapping two fingers on Stiles' thigh.

Well, two could play the embarrassment game. "I'm sorry, son. Would you want me to ask about how long you two have been dating instead?" It was worth it. Stiles choked on his soda, and spluttered all over the table. Derek's ears turned bright pink, and he leaned his forehead on Stiles' shoulder for support. John felt laughter bubble up in his chest. "Gotcha!" he chuckled.

"What? You guessed? That's so not fair! No Sheriff skills allowed when you're prying into my life!"

Scott leaned in from the other side of Melissa. "You are kinda obvious, you know."

"You're not mad?" Stiles asked cautiously.

"Well, I would have been happier if you found someone your own age, and as far as I'm concerned, all you're doing is holding hands." There was a muffled sound from Scott. John and Melissa frowned at him in sync. "But no, I'm not mad. You're a good kid, Derek." The frankly adoring look Stiles gave Derek, and the shocked-in-a-good-way expression on Derek's face, made the awkwardness worth it.

"Well, I, for one, think they're cute," Allison said, from her seat across from Scott. "Anyone want a refill?" Stiles took the out that was offered, and scuttled away.

"Really?" Derek asked, as the two of them were left in a bubble of silence in the middle of the crowd. John slurped his ice cold milkshake, without registering the taste. He tried the next few words on for size, because he had a feeling they could be very important.

"Yes, really. I wouldn't have been okay with it six months ago, and I wouldn't be okay with it if it were anyone else. But, you know," he shrugged, "you've been to the last twenty or so games, to cheer on someone who takes bench warming to the next level. That's dedication." Derek smiled self-depreciatingly, and changed the subject to baseball. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come scream with me on Tumblr, where I am [bold-sartorial-statement](http://bold-sartorial-statement.tumblr.com/).


End file.
